Breast op tragedy mother ‘didn’t pay price of vanity’
THE mother of a beautician who died after a breast enlargement operation hit back yesterday at suggestions she had paid the price of vanity.
Louise Harvey, 36, collapsed and died 17 days after going under the knife when she developed a fatal blood clot.
A coroner said mother-of-three Louise suffered a pulmonary embolism after signing up for the operation at a surgery clinic to “improve her appearance”.
Referring to coverage of Louise’s death in July, her mother Lyn Harvey, 52, said: “The reports make it sound like she was vain – that’s the last thing she was.
Shock
“She didn’t even believe she was a good-looking girl. She didn’t have one mirror in her house.”
Louise – mum to Kayleigh-Anne, 19, Owen, 11, and Jaxon, six – set up a beautician business after years of training.
An inquest heard how she underwent a breast augmentation procedure and a tummy tuck in London in summer.
About two weeks later she complained of feeling short of breath and collapsed at her Norwich home. She was rushed to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where she died on July 5.
Coroner Yvonne Blake said the medical cause of death was given as “pulmonary embolism following breast augmentation”.
The inquest was adjourned for a full hearing next year.
Louise’s family claim she agreed to the surgery after she became concerned that implants from a previous operation were not safe.
Her friends set up a JustGiving page to help raise money for her children, now being cared for by mum Lyn.
Mark Hutson, who started the campaign, said: “It has been a shock to us all that this beautiful, devoted mother has been taken away from us so early.”
All patients who undergo surgery are at risk of suffering blood clots, which in serious cases travel through the body and cause blockages.
British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons spokeswoman Nora Nugent said fewer than one in 1,000 women will suffer blood clots after breast augmentation surgery.